Book Review… SPLINTERED

Splintered, by A.G. Howard, is a modern-day Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Surprisingly, it’s not a retelling. Howard makes use of Carrol’s classic tale, but aside from Wonderland being a place of madness, Splintered tears apart all preconceptions of that world.

Alyssa Gardner is the great-great-great granddaughter of Alice Liddell- the Alice who told Lewis Carroll her fantastic dreams, inspiring him to write Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. But the madness didn’t stay within the pages. For generations, the females in Alyssa’s family have all gone insane, and so she hides that bugs talk to her for fear of ending up like the rest.

When a talking bug-related incident at the insane asylum leads to her mother’s hospitalization, Alyssa decides that she can’t ignore the voices any longer. She listens to the moth who has been her companion since childhood and finds her way to the rabbit hole, accidentally bringing the boy she likes along with her. Together, they tumble into Wonderland- a world of deadly magic and cruel, self-serving creatures. But when Alyssa realizes she’s more tied to wonderland than she thought, who will suffer most: her, or the people she loves?

What I liked:

Insects, flowers, and magic- so many things that make for a rich, romantic tale in one book. The cover and inner art are gorgeous, and the words are as much or more-so.

What I disliked:

The goth-punk style of many characters. Morpheus is clearly a Johnny Depp type (think guy-liner, fedoras, and jewelry), but I’m not into that. Even Alyssa wears blue yarn in her hair, which was hard to picture, and Jeb has a labret (a lip/chin piercing- see third book cover below). Both of them are skater kids. Again, just not my thing.

Also, some weird story-rushing toward the end. It could have moved a little slower. Though most of the tale took its time with descriptions and clear action sequences, the end became jumbled.

Do I recommend it?

If you LOVE Wonderland, Johnny Depp, and/or Tim Burton, then you may enjoy this book. Personally, I enjoy all of those things, but I’m definitely not a Goth girl. I geek too hard on sunshine, unicorns, and rainbows, though I do love a good horror movie as much as the next guy. To each his own!

Also:

There’s a whole damn series, people. I’ll probably read the rest because I can’t help myself, but know that I only do so because I have a problem!

What do you think? Will you check it out? Have you? Let us know in the comments section.

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4 thoughts on “Book Review… SPLINTERED”

I read this book a while ago. And I agree that while there were things to like, everything came together in a kind of strange way. I attempted to move on to book 2, but I was trying to force it and life is too short. I put this series down. You know… because I’m able to do that. 😉